


stay with me, my love (don't cry)

by oncewewerezombies



Series: Summer lo+wvin month [4]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Act 7 moment, Ambiguous Relationships, Dream Bubbles, End of the World, F/M, Gentleness, Nihilism, Nostalgia, hand holding, narrative structure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-23 16:04:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20011042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oncewewerezombies/pseuds/oncewewerezombies
Summary: It's the end of the world, and I feel fine.





	stay with me, my love (don't cry)

"It's a nice night out," you comment to Cronus, as the two of you sit side by side on the memory of a park bench and look up at the darkness of the sky. It's a Beforan memory, maybe one of Latula's or Mituna's, considering there's some stairs with long rails that would be 'sick for grindz', as Latula would put it. You remember these things about people. You remember so much.

There's been so much to remember, and so little of it has meant anything at all.

"Yeah...it's kind of pretty, if you don't think about what it is," Cronus comments sourly at your comment, and you feel his hand grab at your hand a little tighter. Little shiver communicating its way to your skin. Turning your hand a bit, you shift your grip so you can lace your fingers through his. Palm to palm, a firm and steady grip that both of you can cling to as you gaze up at the spectacle of the sky. 

What you're talking about is how the sky overhead is cracking into a million lines, white searing through the black. The dreambubbles had served their purpose, and now it was over. It was time to join the narrative again, even if it was only to be swept away. It's a terrifying thought. You're glad that at least you have someone to share the moment with. When everything ends, at least you're going hand in hand with someone.

"Did you want to go watch Meenah and the army?" you ask, turning your head a little to look at Cronus. His eyes are fixed upwards, his face to you in profile. Lovingly, you trace your gaze along the jagged shape of his horns, the frills of his fins, the long slope of his nose...down to the square shape of his chin, the jagged slits of his throat-gills, and the way they quiver as he breathes. Even though neither you nor he have any need to do so and haven't for much longer than you've been alive, it's a hard habit to break. "I don't want to feel like we have any regrets."

"Regrets?" The corner of his mouth quirks up, and his cigarette wavers for a moment before he clenches his teeth harder on it. You've seen him do that before, and he chomped right through his cancerstick (swallowed the filter one time, which had been kind of hilarious). This time, he avoids that fate. "Well, I can't say going to see it or not going to see it is gonna be one of my regrets. I got more important things to vwaste regrets on."

You nod a little and lean your head against his, making the movement that's almost subconscious by now to avoid tangling his horn with yours. You've got tricks for doing that, whatever side you're sitting on by now. Not every Cronus and not every Porrim had made the decision you had. The choices you'd had come up in front of you. It's astounding, but you wouldn't swap it for anything in the universe if it would mean being somewhere else without his hand in yours.

"I think we should go watch it," you muse and stand up. You keep hold of his hand with one of yours, and brush down your skirt with the other. Above you, the ending of the universe you're all standing in cast its shattered lights over the dreambubble and its furnishings. You wonder what your life would have been like without the game, would you have given up your rebellions and gone into the Caverns to fulfil your duties. Would you never have met Cronus, or worse, met him only in official capacities. Never knowing, never seeing the odd tenderness he could show when he thought he wasn't observed. "I'd hate to miss the end of the world, wouldn't you?"

"Once wasn't enough for you, Por?" he jokes, before exhaling and standing up, using the grip on your hand to help him pull himself up to his feet. You're strong enough to do it, and you love the fact that he never treats you as weak. Never looks down on you, or expects you to do something, well...jade-ish. He likes you just the way you are. "Alright, let's go watch Meenah's big send off, ay?"

He offers you the crook of his elbow and you take it, tucking your arm through his.

"I know a short cut," you offer, and step out confidently while the sky cracks apart above the two of you and then a resounding roar shakes you both to the bones. Something's happening. You'd better go look at it, and watch it all the way to the end. At least you're standing next to someone you appreciate while you're doing it. You guess that it's more than a lot of people get, and you turn your head to peck Cronus on the cheek before pulling him along after you while he splutters. "Let's go, Cronus!" 

An ending. A beginning. They both hurt, and you watch the dreambubbles get sucked into the whirling black hole with a sense of trepidation - and anticipation. Your hand is so tight around Cronus' it hurts, and no matter what, at least you know you're facing this together.


End file.
